


Return to Me

by aeryncricton



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29311326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeryncricton/pseuds/aeryncricton
Summary: Years after break up, a case brings Jughead and Betty back into each other's orbits.  She is an FBI agent and he is a novelist. What happens when their worlds collide again? Castle AU
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	1. The Past is Prologue

**_Your heart was glass, I dropped it........_ **

Betty could feel the distance eating away at them. From the moment that she opened her mouth and shattered them into pieces, they weren’t the same. It wasn’t surprising, but she wanted-no needed them to work. It helped her believe that her mistake didn’t have to cut so deep because it didn’t mean anything. It was a moment-one she wished she could take back. She wanted him to scream or yell. But, the silent sorrow of his broken heart hurt more than any harsh words that he could speak to her. So, she sat there on the couch wanting to bridge the gap that had begun to engulf them. She just couldn’t do it anymore. So, she arranged to leave her early. If she had to stay in this purgatory for another second she knew it would only deepen the sorrow that she felt herself curling into.

“I’m going to go to New Haven early,”she whispered before crawling into bed.”

He simply nodded.

The silence was killing her. She wanted to demand that he just say what was on her mind. She wanted them to talk it out—to hash it out. But, what was the point? She was headed to Connecticut and he was headed to Iowa. If this secret hadn’t destroyed them, the distance sure would have.

***

She stood on the landing and clung to him. It really was one final goodbye for them. She reached for his face and kissed him, attempting to memorize the taste and feel of his lips one final time. He may not have realized it, but this might be one of the last times they would be together like this.

“Promise me, this isn’t the end.”she said even though she knew it was.

“I love you, Betty.”

“I will always love you, Juggie.”Betty whispers as she holds him tightly. Tears are pooling in her eyes and she knows if she doesn’t let him go soon, his shirt will be soaked in her tears. Her mother is waiting for her near the car, so she looks back at him. His hands are in his pockets and the sadness is still there in his eyes. She knows that he wants to be able to save them just as much as she does, but he can’t seem to find the words. Once inside the car, she places her hand on the window still and watches as he waves goodbye. The tears finally come pouring down her cheek.

*****

**A year later**

Betty is standing outside of Pops. Her hand reaches out for the handle but she starts shaking. Memories of the night she was stuck down in that well keep coming pouring back. Sweat starts dripping down her back and she runs away. She keeps running until she reaches her old house. She sits on her porch and takes in all the memories. They all came flooding back. The countless murders and close calls. Her palms are still sweaty. She is in the middle of one of her panic attacks. Her nails start to dig into her palms. She watches as the skin breaks and the blood appears. She misses having a sense of control But, all of that has gone out the window. A little while later, she drives by Pops and sees him walk out. She is frozen with her hands on the steering wheel. She immediately notices the sad drop of his head as he stuff his hands in his pockets and gets into a beat up old Honda Civic before driving off.

*******

**Six Years Later**

Jughead Jones received a cryptic call from his agent as he attempted to work on his second novel. It was supposed to be a follow up to his cryptic best-seller about a town terrorized by a serial killer. He had used the combination of all the murders and Hiram as a sort of framework to build his story. Apparently, the FBI wanted to see him. He wondered if his mother had finally crossed the wrong person or was Jelly Bean taking after their older brother Charles. His mind was going wild.

He walked into the New York Bureau office and was ushered into a small office. Everyone seemed to wear the same blue suit and it wasn’t quite Men-in-Black but enough for his liking. He was looking around and turned his head when he heard the sound of the door creaking open. His eyes widened and his throat went dry. She didn’t have her hair in a tight-ponytail any longer. It fell past her back in soft curls. His eyes softened when he saw her. 

Betty wanted to turn around and run. He was the last person she expected to see in her bosses office.

“Betty,”he said softly.

She closed her eyes. The sound of his voice echoed through her heart.

“Jughead,”she said and paused to collect her voice. “ How are you?”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. A gesture she was all too familiar with. “I’m good. So, you’re an agent.”

“Yeah, I’ve been an agent for a little over a year.

The conversation was stilted. They hadn’t spoken to each other in seven years. She was as beautiful as he remembered her. He moved closer to her. It was as if a power beyond his control was pulling him towards her. He picked up a strand of her hair and said, “You look Betty.”

She sucked in a breath and took a step backward. She was not accustomed to having him in her personal safe and the smell of him was unnerving her.

“What are you doing here?

He shrugged and said, “My agent said the FBI wanted to ask me something?”

An older woman interrupted their conversation and said, “Good you are both here. Agent Cooper. Mr. Jones, please have a seat.”

She was an older woman and like everyone else she wore a pant-suit in an interesting shade of blue. Her dark hair was pulled back in a bun and she placed her hands on her desk. “So, Mr. Jones you are probably wondering why I’ve called you in.”

“Yes, officer.”

“Call me Agent Brown. Anyways, the reason the two of you are here. There has been a series of murders that are quite similar to what you wrote in your book Mr. Jones.”

Jughead was startled and he immediately got on the defensive. “Murder intrigues me, but I’m not really the violent type so if you’re accusing me of something...”

“I don’t think you did anything, but the two of you may help us get in the mind of this copycat. We think someone is trying to replicate your father’s and grandfathers murders Agent Cooper”

Betty reached for the napkin she kept in her pocket. She patted away the sweat beads that were beginning to form on her forehead. That’s when he noticed the small scar on the underside of her wrist. Jughead reached out and turned her head over. Betty pulled her hand away and back on to her lap. Agent Brown looked from one to another. “I’m familiar with your history. I hope this won’t cause any problems.”

“Why would it cause problems?” Jughead asked.

“Because we need you to consult on this case. To use that mystery writer brain of yours to help uncover clues or hints that may bypass the other Agent on the Case.”

Jughead shook his head. This whole sounded like a recipe for disaster. He had shifted from actual investigations to writing years ago and he liked it better in the realm of fiction.

“I don’t know,”he said.

Agent Brown began to get up and said, “I’ll give you 24 hours to make your decision. But, there are actual lives at stake. Think about it.”

He walked out after shaking the agent's hand and Betty followed right behind her. “Listen, Jug. Don’t worry about me. I think we can handle working on a single case together. It won’t break us.”

He reached for her hand and said, “How long have you been doing this to yourself,”Jughead said sternly.

She pulled her hand away like he had burnt her. “I’m not your concern anymore.”

“You’ll always be my concern Betty Cooper,”he said before walking away.


	2. Chapter 2

Jughead didn’t take a cab or the subway home. Instead, he found himself walking around Central Park, the chill seeping through his tweed jacket. He found a small bench and sat there looking around letting the reality of everything settle in. His thoughts kept going back to one thing: Betty. That single name swirled in his mind over and over again like a never ending cycle. The memories coming to him like a wave: from watching her develop feelings for Archie to taking the chance and kissing her. He’d never dream that she’d want him back; that she could love him. 

“I should have known better,”he thought to himself. What they had wasn’t fleeting, but the very thing he always feared tore them apart--Archie.He’d chosen the higher road. Distance would fracture them anyway. He didn’t really see the point of holding a grudge. But, the truth was more painful;something he wasn’t prepared to unravel yet. It was something woven into the man he’d become. He thought changing his book so that it focused on them would help purge her. It didn’t. She was still embedded in his soul.

Now, they were asking him to throw himself into her world again. Could he handle it? Jughead was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t feel someone sit down beside him. He recognized her scent and turned to see her sitting there quietly.

“Do you hate me?”she asked softly.

Jughead said nothing. What he wanted to say was that he could never hate her; that he still loved her. Instead, he simply crossed his arms across his chest. 

“Talk to me Jug. I need your help with this,”she asked.

He sat there for a minute gathering his thoughts. “Forsythe. I don’t go by Jughead anymore. He is dead.”

Betty gasped. Tears started to well in her eyes. She hated the distance that had developed between them. “It’s been seven years. Are you ever going to forgive me.”

She wiped her clammy hands on her pants and stood up. “It’s not fair. How long do I have to pay for a mistake I made at 17.”

“I’m not trying to punish you and you’re right. Seven years is a long time,” he says without looking into her eyes. He knows if he tilts his head to look at her that he will break and beg her to take him back. To urge to forget the distance and the time that has irrevocably changed them both.

******

Jughead stays on that bench as if waiting for divine intervention to help finally make a decision. But, the one thing that refused to leave his psyche was the scars on Betty’s hands. It was almost like they were 16 again and she was this lost girl trying to be something she wasn’t. So, it was with that inspiration that he got off the cold park bench and headed to his small flat on the Lower East Side and pulled out his old typewriter. He cued up the paper and the words started to flow out of him like they had when he was a nineteen year old suffering from the loss of his true love. By the time, the sun came up, he knew what he had to do. He quickly showered and changed and sent a message to the FBI agent. He sent another to his literary agent telling him he had an outline for his next book.

A few minutes later, his phone rang and a familiar voice was on the other end. “Boy, it’s your dad. We need your help.”

“What’s wrong? Is Jellybean ok?”

“No, she’s missing.”

Jughead cut off the phone line and headed straight to Queens. His father and baby sister moved there just after he’d graduated high school. His father had found some work with a local mechanic. It was good honest work and kept him far away from Gladys who was up to her head in criminal activity. The reason that Jughead had moved to New York after college was to be close to them, but he preferred his privacy in the city. 

He found himself texting Betty. She’d kept her old number. 

“I need your help. JB is missing. Meet me at Penn Station,”read his message.

******

By the time he got to the station, she was standing there with her hair pinned back in a loose ponytail and a worried look on her face. 

“Thank you for coming,”Jughead said shyly. He had spent the better part of the last twenty minutes beating himself up for sending the message. But, the only one he could trust to come with him was her. No amount of anger changed the fact that he needed her.

“Thanks for asking me to come,”she said softly. “What do we know.”

“Not much. Just that she went out with some friends two days ago and hasn’t been seen since.”

Betty searched his face and saw the lines of worry etched across his face. She reached for his hand. He looked down and laced his fingers with her. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“Anytime,”Betty replied.

They sat together in companionable silence during the train ride to Queens. Betty had a bunch of questions, but she knew he didn’t really have any of the answers that she was looking for. Once they got to his father’s house, a haggard looking F.P answered the door. He enveloped Jughead in a hug. She felt a little shy watching the two sharing such a private and painful moment. 

“Betty! This is a surprise.”

“Jughead told me about Jellybean. I will try to use some of my resources at the FBI to help.”

Betty watched Jughead as he took in everything with tears welling in his eyes. She wanted to reach out and touch him again. But, he had opened the door a crack and that was something. A part of her wanted to deride herself for looking for any small thing to cling to. But, she missed him and a part of her came alive a little when she received his text. 

She listened patiently then got out a small notebook and pen and started writing things down. The small details that she knew Jughead expected he would remember, but he was emotional and would forget. So, she wrote everything she thought was pertinent down. 

“Do you want to stay here with your dad? I can go back to the city.”

FP shook his head, “Nonsense. You can take Jellybean’s room. Jughead will crash with me.”

“No, no. I think it would be too weird. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

**************

Jughead was trying to keep in the emotions that were threatening to overtake him. His sister was missing and he knew the rules. They had forty-eight hours before all the leads went cold. The chances of finding someone alive after three days was slim to none. He sat on the porch and took a drag from the cigarette. It was a bad habit that he’d picked up in college and really didn’t know why he kept it up. He hated the after-taste. So, he put it out and tossed it aside.

Betty came and sat beside him. “You okay,”she asked.

“I don’t know Betty. I don’t know.”

She tried to search his face for a clue to what to say. How did you comfort someone who’s sister may be dead? Betty also knew how much JB meant to Jughead. He was that older brother that would do anything for his little sister. She knew it was tearing him apart. But, she didn’t feel like she had the right to comfort him. They were like strangers now. So much of who they were fragmented seven years ago. 

He turned to her and smiled. “I’m glad.”

“We’re going to find her and the motherfucker who took her,”Betty said so convincingly that Jughead almost believed her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Jughead search for clues about Jellybean

Chapter 3

Betty woke up in the middle of the night with sweat dripping down her face and she could feel the wetness on the tshirt that Jughead’s father had given her to sleep in. It was an old Serpent t-shirt. She fell asleep feeling a warmth envelop her, but that didn’t stop the nightmares from coming back. She stood up and wandered to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She was standing there gripping the sink when Jughead came in. He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him.

“What is it?”he whispered as he contemplated wrapping his arms around her. But, he recognized that cagey look on her face. She was trying to hold on to every bit of control she could muster. Jughead swallowed and tentatively wrapped an arm around her waist. 

“It’s nothing,”she said as she began to pull away. 

“You know you can’t lie to me. I can feel the sweat. What did you see?” Jughead asked.

Betty shook her head and walked back into the living room. She put the blanket around her waist and insisted that she was fine. She could feel the layers slipping away, but she wasn’t sure she could handle it all. She didn’t want to think about it all. That night still haunted her. So, instead she packed it away and tried to focus on nothingness. Jughead watched the blank look on her face and climbed the stairs and tried to get some sleep. But, sleep wouldn’t come. His mind was spinning with thoughts of his baby sister in pain and jellybean quickly morphed into Betty. How was it that the people closest to him were in pain and all he could do was sit back and just let it happen. He felt the pang of loneliness in his gut beginning to overwhelm him. 

The morning didn’t bring much solace. He sat at the kitchen table nursing a cup of black coffee hoping it would inject him with the energy to deal with whatever monsters were waiting for him to uncover. He went over and over what his father had told him in his head and nothing was making sense. Jellybean had always been independent and secretive, so there was something that he was missing. He needed to get into her laptop. It was clear that she wasn't’ trying to run away. All of her clothes were in her closet and the laptop sat on her small desk. Her charger was in the socket by the bed. She’d left that evening like someone who was planning to return, so what went wrong?  
He was so busy going through all the details his brain could remember, so he didn’t even notice her. It was her scent that pulled him out of his head. It was like her very essence was imprinted in his brain. He looked up and said, “Morning.”

“You have that look on your face?”

“What look?”

“That forlorn puppy look that means you are obsessing about every detail about this case. What did you come up with?”

Jughead set his mug down on the table and said, “she was planning on returning. Her room still had all her stuff in it. The only thing missing was her phone which she probably had on her. Even her laptop is still in her room.”

Betty nodded her head. “I think I can help. Let me talk to Dave in IT. He owes me a favor.”

“Well, call this Dave guy. We have 48 hours to find my sister.”

Betty smiled and took her phone from her back pocket and dialled her coworker. Jughead watched while she flirted with the person on the other end he wondered if she was working him or if they had some sort of thing going on. The idea of somebody that wasn’t him touching her made him grip the kitchen table. He knew he didn’t have a right to be jealous anymore, but he couldn’t help himself. 

“He said to drop off the laptop and that he’d tried to see what he could find,”Betty said once she was off the phone. 

Jughead nodded his head and ran upstairs to change and grab his sister laptop.

****  
A few hours later, Jughead found himself standing outside the offices of the FBI again. They went inside and up to the 10th floor where Dave was waiting for them. Jughead watched as his face dropped when he saw that Betty wasn’t alone. He was a frail red headed fellow who wore a flannel shirt and white lab coat. His glasses were too big for his face and a part of him felt a sigh of relief. 

Dave took the laptop from Betty and said, “I should know something in a few hours.”

“Can you work any faster?”she asked while batting her eyelashes.

Jughead stepped up to him and said, “Dude. It’s my sister. We are on a clock.”

Dave looked from Betty to Jughead as if he was trying to figure something out. “I’ve got two little sisters. Give me an hour.”

Jughead grabbed him and hugged him tightly. Dave was gurgling with discomfort and stepped back from him as soon as he let him go.

Jughead was embarrassed by his display and said, “sorry about that.”

Dave nodded and Betty watched the two of them with amusement. The lack of sleep was wearing on her, so she asked jughead if he wanted to join her for a cup of coffee. They walked side by side until they reached a small cafe up the street from the bureau. Once inside they headed to the back and slid into a booth. The menu was on a small card placed on the table ahead of time. Jughead perused the menu before setting it down.

“You okay?”Betty asked.

Jughead shrugged. He was freaking out, but there was no way to articulate that. Betty reached across the table and placed her hands over his shaky ones. Jughead looked into her eyes and tried to not let the tears fall down his face, but they came anyway. 

“She’s going to be okay.”

Jughead said nothing. He just sat there watching her and wondering why he’d let so many years pass by without her being in his life. “I’m sorry.”

Betty scrunched up her face, “for what?”

“The silence. I missed this; I missed us.”

Betty pulled away from him and straightened up in her chair. She was afraid of falling back in to old patterns. “It’s been a long time. We’re different people now.”

Jughead nodded his head, “You’re probably right.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He caught up with her and was out of breath when he finally did so. Jughead placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her to face him. “It’s me Betts.”
> 
> The tears were streaming down her face as she looked at him. So, he pulled her into his arms and let her cry.

The time was ticking by slowly as they waited for Dave to get back to them. The hour he’d promised had stretched into two. Betty and Jughead spent that time in the diner making small talk trying to avoid saying what was really on their minds. She missed him and had managed to keep tabs on his career, but she wanted him to open up to her. This was a chance to renew their friendship. Jughead played with his coffee cup as he watched her. The dark circles under her eyes were visible under the layer of make-up she tried to use to hide them. But, he could see that something was haunting her. But, he had lost all rights to knowing that part of her. But, he wanted to. He wanted to start over with her. He reached for her hand and turned it over.

“When did you start doing this again?”he asked gently.

She tried to pull away, but he rubbed his thumb along the scars which sent a shiver down her spin and made her recall a moment in years ago, where he tried to kiss it all better. Her eyes watched him silently. She felt like he was coming back to her, but maybe too much had happened to revisit it.

“Something happened a couple of months ago.”

He nodded his head and just waited for her to continue. But, Betty placed that forced smile on her face again and said, “It was just a case. It comes with the territory.”

“Don’t do that. You’re hiding. What is it?”he asked.

Betty shook her head and refused to do this here. She dropped a few bills on the table and ran out the door. Jughead ran after her. It was something he should have done years ago; fight for them. 

He caught up with her and was out of breath when he finally did so. Jughead placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her to face him. “It’s me Betts.”

The tears were streaming down her face as she looked at him. So, he pulled her into his arms and let her cry. They stood there holding each other while passerbyers yelled various obscenities at them.

“Go get a room.”

“Fuck off already.”

They slowly separated and he looked at her cautiously, “You’re going to be okay.”  
It was more of a statement than a question. He reached for her hand and she intertwined them with her own as they walked around the city. Betty smiled softly at him. It was a small gesture, but it finally felt like things might be okay; that she might be okay.

******

When they go see Dave, he has a scowl on his face that concerns Jughead deeply. “I didn’t find much that wasn’t typical of young teenage girls. Some strange stories about two brothers who kill monsters, she accesses her social media accounts pretty frequently: twitter, tumblr, instagram. But, she hasn’t posted anything in about a week. Her last post on instagram was a picture outside of some sort of seedy club.”He turned the laptop to show Jughead.

It was a shot of Jellybean dressed in black leather outside some place that looked vaguely familiar to him.

“Can you print off that picture for me,”Jughead asked.

“You know the place?”Betty asked. Once Dave got them a print out, Jughead pointed to the building and the marking on the door. 

“Do you remember in senior year when my sister was making those snuff films?”

Dave’s eyes bugged out and said, “she made what?”

“It’s a long story… anyways, Betts. Remember when we snuck into that club. I think it's the same one.”

They said their goodbyes to Dave and said, “So, we’re going back to Riverdale. I haven’t been there in six years,”he replied.

Betty promised to meet him outside his apartment. He was waiting outside the building, leaning against the car. He looked carefree and sexy and she was transported back in time to when she was seventeen and in love. She smiled brightly at him. “You ready?”he asked huskily.

“As ready as I can be.”

*****

Riverdale is about a three hour drive from New York city and Betty settles back as Jughead takes the wheel. For the first time in over a week she feels her eyelids getting heavy with sleep. Before she knows, she has fallen asleep. Jughead watches her peacefully and they were about an hour outside of town when she woke up with a scream. Jughead parks the car on the side of the road. He turns to face her. “What is it? What’s going on Betty?”

He unbuckled his seat belt and grabbed her face. “Betty, what happened? What did you see?”

She looked up at him with her big beautiful eyes and they were filled with such sadness that all he wanted to do was make her feel safe again. “Tell me.”

He let go of her face and reached for her hand and held it softly as she told him about the recurring nightmare of her in the hole waiting to be rescued. Jughead closed his eyes and hated himself for losing all those years and the thought of possibly having almost lost her. It finally all made sense.

“That’s why you never came. You were fighting for your life and I left you that horribly self-indulgent voicemail.”

She squeezed his hand, “You couldn’t have known juggie.”

“How did this happen to us, Betty. How did we become this.”

She didn’t say anything. Instead she reached over and caressed his face. He leaned into her touch and reached for her. She could feel his breath on her skin as his lips lowered onto hers. The kiss was soft and tentative, almost like he was afraid she would push him away. She moved closer and held tightly to his arms and deepened the kiss. He tasted like coffee and chocolate. Betty ran her fingers through his hair and all she wanted was to feel more of him. When they parted they took a moment to catch their breath before falling into each other's arms again; It felt like coming home again.


End file.
